by Holley Trent
“It only works for me with other angels, and now, specifically only the ones confined to Earth and its various realms.”
“Pardon me?” Elizabeth asked.
Tarik gave his head a dismissive shake. “Don’t fret over it. Suffice it to say, the world you exist on has layers you cannot see. I can move through them, if I wish to.”
Her brow creased. “Do you…wish to?”
“Sometimes, I’m required to as a matter of professional efficiency.”
“Looking for things to kill,” Lola muttered.
Tarik smiled.
“Oh, dear,” Elizabeth said.
“Startin’ to worry a little bit about those so-called principles of yours, angel,” Rachel said. Rachel being Rachel, however, she didn’t seem especially aggrieved by his potential dangerousness. She was perfectly relaxed, lounging on her side and fidgeting with the sparse grass at the edge of the quilt.
“I could show you how I use those spaces, if you like,” he offered.
Before Lola could open her mouth to refuse such a gesture, both of the Cougars sprang to their feet and started knocking the dirt off their skirts.
“Where are we goin’?” Rachel asked.
Lola groaned and rubbed her eyes. Of course they wanted adventure. Their lives were so small, so routine. They deserved more than what Maria had to offer, and Lola couldn’t give that to them. Even if she set aside her own principles and moved the sun and moon for them, she didn’t have the resources to support their whims long-term. She wished she did.
“Have you ever been on a boat?” he asked.
Both Cougars shook their heads.
Lola looked to the clouds and wished for restraint in the presence of such an unpredictable creature.
He stood. His wings’ shadows flexed and quivered as he shifted—one side stiffer and tighter than the other. It hardly moved at all.
What did he do to it?
She had no idea what could possibly injure a creature of his might, but the wound must have been terrible for the pain to persist as it seemed to be.
“I happen to know there’s a ship making its way from England across the Atlantic right now,” he said.
“A ship you intend to disrupt?” Lola asked. “Because if so, I will insist now that you leave my Cougars be and go find some other young women to corrupt.”
Rachel snorted. “How much more corrupt can I get, Miss Lola?”
Once more, Lola opened her mouth but had her words staunched, this time by Tarik’s sonorous laugh. “No corruption intended. Just a visit. I thought I’d drop in and surprise a new…” His wing shadows jerked with his suppressed laughter. “A new friend.”
“A dangerous friend?” Elizabeth asked with a hint of wariness in her tone.
“Finally, someone is asking the right kind of questions,” Lola said.
“No, just a human,” Tarik said. “A woman, to be precise.”
“Someone who has warmed your bed,” she said acidly.
“Mind yourself, goddess. I create my own warmth.”
“As do I.”
“Then we need no further discussion on the matter, do we?”
“It wasn’t a discussion. Discussion implies investment in the matter, and I have none.”
“Then consider the matter closed.”
Lola found herself on her feet all of a sudden and being pulled into a huddle of Cougars and frustration. “What are you doing?” she muttered against his chest with exasperation.
“Hold on to my arms,” he said, though evidently not to her because Elizabeth and Rachel were in the way of them. “I’ve never done three at once, but I imagine that if you cling tightly, the physics are entirely the same.”
“What?”
“We discussed this, Butterfly. We’re going to a boat.”
She tried to lean back to see his face, but Elizabeth was in the way. The most Lola could make out was his coarse beard and the Adam’s apple beneath it.
“Is this going to hurt?” Elizabeth asked.
“Shouldn’t, though I must confess I’ve never ported a shifter before. Perhaps you’ll let me know how you feel on the other end.”
“Tarik,” Lola warned. Those girls were her responsibility.
He didn’t care.
He laughed as heat surged around them and the Cougars nestled in tighter against him, and then the ground seemed to fall out from beneath them.
The girls screamed.
Lola sighed.
Reckless creature.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Landing on moving objects was always a risky venture. Somehow, Tarik managed to home in on the deranged aristocrat’s approximate location on the vessel and set his feminine parcel down in a quiet corridor where he didn’t sense too many souls nearby.
He put his fingers to his lips and pushed his senses outwards in search of presences—psychic and physical—that could quickly disrupt their little romp.
They seemed a safe enough distance away from others, and Lady Sophie was quite close. There was a second presence in her space, likely her stunned maid, if he was reading the energy right.
He pulled his wings in tight and pulled his energy inward—magically hogtying himself in a way. He made himself smaller for the tight space, less conspicuous.
“What are you doing?” Lola whispered in a rush as her Cougars edged away from him, fanning themselves.
“The walls are tight here.”
The crease in her brow smoothed and her mouth formed a silent O shape. Then she cleared her throat, smoothed her hands down her skirt, and looked both ways down the corridor. “You’re not…changing your form, then.”
“No. I need to reserve energy to take your Cats home.”
“Fine.” Her expression suddenly went flat as white paint.
Strange little woman.
Smiling, he gestured ahead and indicated the ladies should go. “Second door on left.”
Bold Rachel surged ahead and knocked on the rapped cabin door without hesitation.
There was whispering within—rushed voices humans wouldn’t have been able to hear, but the congregation of creatures in the corridor weren’t humans.
“Is it time for tea already?” Lady Sophie asked. “If it is, I’m saying to hell with the corset. I’ll sit here in my dressing gown, and you won’t stop me.”
“It is about that time, mum.”
Tarik peered at his pocket watch. Perhaps it was that time, even if it wasn’t that time in New Mexico.
“Well, open it, I suppose. Make sure the water is hot this time. I don’t know what they’re playing at, sending tepid water for the tea.”
“I’ll make sure it’s scalding, mum.”
Footsteps.
A creak as the door latch shifted.
Tarik and the ladies took a preemptive step back from the door.
The maid appeared in the opening with annoyance marked on her face. The expression quickly gave way to confusion as she scanned the ladies. Rachel gave her a little wave and said, “Hey.”
The maid’s coloring turned gray when she looked over the Cougars’ heads at Tarik. Recognition dawned in her bloodshot eyes.
He got his hands under her armpits and propped her up before her legs gave out beneath her.
“Angel!” Lady Sophie clapped enthusiastically and sprang to her slippered feet. She shuffled halfway across the small, cramped cabin, and finally seemed to take in the full extent of the circumstances. “Oh. Well. Just…drag her inside, I suppose.” She groaned prettily. “Everyone told me that Scottish maids were the hardiest and she did come with impeccable references.”
“I’m sure her service is quite competent in most other aspects.” He carried the unconscious woman to a chair, which Lady Sophie sent dresses flying from.
“She’s been having such a rough go of it.” Lady Sophie propped her hands on her hips and shook her head. “The sea doesn’t agree with her. What a bore.”
“Seems to be agreeing with you, though.”
>
Tarik was fairly sure he heard the slightest clucking of the tongue from the goddess behind him. More interesting, however, was the agitated, crackling snap to her energy. The Cougars were much more settled. He read them as cautious, but curious.
The blushing lady quickly pinned her hair and made some half-hearted sounds of refusal, typical of a woman of her station.
He’d been honest, though. The lady looked well. Her auburn hair was shiny, pale skin clear, gray eyes sharp, smile assertive. More importantly, she didn’t have the reek of opium about her as she had during their last exchange. She was a handsome woman when upright and sober. It was a wonder that at her age, she hadn’t landed a lord to marry.
“You brought me guests?” she asked. “Oh, I know you’re not an aristocrat, but certainly you know there are rules for that sort of thing, angel.”
“I would certainly like to know what the rules are for a creature who roams the earth at his leisure and who could probably burn an entire city with a breath,” Lola muttered.
Tarik cocked a brow.
He’d never razed a city. He probably could if he wanted to. He was beginning to suspect that if either of them were inclined to do it, she’d be the more likely party. The goddess may have been principled, but having rules didn’t make her any less dangerous.
“I didn’t quite catch that.” Lady Sophie cupped her ear.
“Oh, never mind her.” Rachel thrust her hand toward the lady to shake. “I’m Rachel Foye.”
Lady Sophie studied the outstretched hand for a moment and then cautiously set hers in it.
“And this here is Elizabeth Putnum. I call her Liz. I guess most everyone does back at home.”
“Should I bow or…curtsy or something?” Elizabeth asked.
“Not necessary. Any friend of Angel is a friend to me.” Lady Sophie shook Elizabeth’s hand, too, and leaned for a look at the stubborn woman behind him.
“Back there is Lola,” Rachel said. “She’s our boss back at home.”
“Are you all angels?” the lady asked, giving up her quest for the straggler. She indicated the door.
It closed behind him before Tarik could complete the act. Lola’s handiwork.
“No, just him,” Elizabeth said, pointing to Tarik. “Me and Rachel, we’re Cougars.”
“I’m…sorry?” Lady Sophie’s upper lip curled. “I didn’t quite catch that.”
“Cougars. Big cats. We can change our shapes.”
“Oh. I see.” Lady Sophie draped a hand over her heart. The twitch of her upper lip gave away her mounting discomfort.
“You’re not gonna faint or nothin’, are you?” Rachel asked. “Running out of chairs in here.”
“I do not faint,” Lady Sophie huffed. She forced what seemed to be a traumatic swallow down her throat and tugged the lacy collar of her dressing gown away from her neck. “I wonder who ever has possibly heard of such a thing. Large cats, you say?”
“Would you like me to demonstrate?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes!” Lady Sophie said at the same time Lola said, “You absolutely will not.”
Elizabeth pouted.
“Well, then.” The lady swanned over to her unmade bed and gracelessly flopped onto it. She looked to Tarik with a smile and patted the bed’s edge beside her. “I am glad to see you. Assuming you’re not here to revise your previous assassination order and add me to it.”
“I am not,” he said. He folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. “Shouldn’t you be grieving or at least pretending to? Where’s your black attire?”
“You see, I don’t actually know about his death yet, do I? The mail hasn’t caught up to me, with me having already absconded for my grand adventure, and all.” She shrugged. “I’ll wear black in Bermuda, assuming that’s where this floating assemblage of waste is going.” She snatched her fan off the nearby table and shook it open. “Can you believe that these accommodations are what pass as first rate on this ship? I was assured I would have access to every luxury.”
“What in the world is she prattling about?” Lola asked.
Annoyed with her continued lurking in his shadow, Tarik grabbed her arm and eased her out from behind him.
She wore a scowl. Predictable. He wasn’t afraid of it. He’d likely be far more terrified if she smiled. What passed for amusing to her would probably be dangerous for him.
As Lady Sophie’s gaze raked over Lola’s minuscule frame, the goddess lifted her chin and twined her fingers together primly in front of her body. Perhaps she was used to such assessment. Perhaps she was waiting for a particular sort of response.
The lady huffed and waved her fan twice in front of her face. “Well, what are you, then? Some sort of Indian?”
“If you’d like.”
“How very conceding.” Lady Sophie raised her brows. “Where are you from?”
“America. That is what your people call it.”
The lady’s brows fell. “What part of America? I’m not as daft as you think.”
“Is that so?”
Tarik was just about to open his mouth to redirect the conversation—he hadn’t brought the women aboard expecting conflict—but Rachel grabbed his wing and murmured, “Let it play out. She’s got to establish order.”
He grunted. Of course, he’d never let any insult from Lady Sophie go unanswered, but he’d hoped they could come to a place of cooperation quickly rather than immediately antagonizing each other.
The lady waved her fan again and set her jaw with determination. “I’m from London,” she said. “Lived there my entire life, except for summers in the country. My great-grandfather was from France. He did an unmentionable favor for the king and became the first Duke of Asperley.” She laughed. “A corrupted line that wasn’t meant to last, you see. Angel here took care of that. I’m not entirely certain who the next duke will be, and I don’t care.” She waved the fan toward her maid who was finally coming to.
Elizabeth rushed over to the wild-eyed woman and propped her up. She tried to swat Elizabeth’s hands away, but the Cougar was unmoved. “You stop all that fussing. If we were gonna eat you up, we woulda done it already.”
“E-eat me?”
“Oh,” Elizabeth said, turning to the room. “She passed out before the big cat part.”
“Big cat?”
Rachel chuckled and took the seat on the bed’s edge that had been offered for the lady. “Unlike most folks our age,” she said blithely, “we still have most of our teeth.” She flashed them and let the room see her fangs descending.
Tarik found himself entirely too pleased to have finally made such close acquaintance to a group of Cougars. Lola didn’t seem to be as pleased. Heat surged around her and she took a step toward the bed, likely to chastise the Cat, but Tarik pulled her back and pushed a little of his own heat into her.
Just wait, Butterfly.
Her quiet snarl painted a grin on his face. He enjoyed her discomfort very much.
“No, no,” Elizabeth said, slapping the maid’s face lightly. “Don’t you pass out again. You’re not that useless, are you?”
“Up until now, she hadn’t been.” Squinting, Lady Sophie leaned in close to Rachel and gave her left fang a delicate flick. She gasped at the little plinking sound.
“That’s real,” Rachel said merrily.
The maid made the sign of the cross over her chest.
Tarik had on pretty good authority that action wasn’t going to save her from the likes of them. Even if there were other beings paying close enough attention, few would interfere with Tarik. Fallen angels of his high order were dangerous to cross because their rules were their own. Most creatures took laissez-faire attitudes toward him. The others…learned.
“I think I’m going to need some tea to process all this,” Lady Delacroix said.
“Want me to go find some?” Rachel asked. “How big’s this ship? Would anyone pay attention if I went out there?”
“Gods, no, they can’t tell one mai
d apart from another. Put on one of Eugenia’s dresses and go.”
“Lady!” Eugenia objected even as Rachel started rooting through the indicated trunk.
“Well, we can’t trust that you’ll keep your mouth shut, can we?”
“I didn’t say a peep about him, did I?” Eugenia pointed to Tarik.
“Yes, well, allow me to help you help yourself keep the secret, hmm? Heavens, there’d be a riot on this boat if word got out.”
Rachel brazenly stripped down to her chemise right in front of them.
Tarik averted his gaze.
“Just tell me where to go,” Rachel said. “Hope there’s food up there, too. ’Bout time for lunch and this Cat’s gotta eat.”
“Eugenia will draw you a map to the galley and make you a list of everything we want,” Lady Sophie said. “Won’t you, dear?”
“Yes, mum,” the maid muttered.
When Tarik thought it was safe to look down again, Rachel was letting Elizabeth button up the back of her dress. Lola was looking up at Tarik inscrutably.
“Keep staring at me like that,” he whispered, “and your neck will ache.”
“What are you playing at?”
“It’s just a little adventure, Butterfly. Nothing more. Enjoy it.”
“You assume I need adventure? Or that I could not find diversions on my own?”
“I would never presume that. The adventure is in watching them.” He gestured subtly toward the Cougars.
Lola’s expression softened as she took in the sight, perhaps seeing it differently now.
Eugenia was making her map. Elizabeth was watching over her shoulder. Lady Sophie was hastily pinning Rachel’s thick, long hair into a severe bun suitable for a woman impersonating a lady’s maid.
“She will never pass for anyone’s maid,” Lola said softly, seeming to read his own thoughts. “She is…too bold. Too much a Cougar.”
“Would you rather her to be weaker? Or is it better that your Cats are assertive and challenging?”
“Challenging,” Lola conceded quietly. “For better or for worse.”
He happened to think that they were perfect as they were.
